82 Developing Persuasive Presentations (7.4.1)

There’s no doubt you’ve tried to convince someone of something, whether asking a friend for a favour or pitching an idea at work. Persuasive presentations are part of everyday life and are especially important in business. You might be trying to make a sale, ask for funding, or propose a new idea.

Persuasion is the process of presenting arguments to move or change your audience. You might want your audience to change their beliefs, adopt a new idea, stop a behaviour, or take action. Motivation is what pushes them toward that change. Together, persuasion and motivation can influence attitudes and behaviour.

Persuasive presentations are everywhere—TV advertisements, pop-ups online, and social media posts. Because we’re surrounded by persuasive messages, it’s important to understand how to use this strategy effectively and ethically.

Video 11.4 below explains how to combine ethos, pathos, and logos effectively when creating a persuasive presentation.

Video 11.4: How to Organize a Persuasive Presentation | Running Time: 7:37

^{How to Organize a Persuasive Presentation | Published by Communication Coach Alexander Lyon | Apr 10, 2017}

Aristotle’s Appeals: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

Over 2,000 years ago, the Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote about the art of persuasion, or rhetoric. He described three key ways to persuade an audience: ethos, pathos, and logos. These appeals are still widely used in professional presentations, advertising, and writing today. They can make your message more convincing, trustworthy, and memorable when used effectively.

These three appeals form what’s known as the rhetorical triangle—a helpful way to think about how you connect with your audience.

^{Activity 11.2: The Rhetorical Triangle}

Pathos (Emotion)

Pathos is the appeal to your audience’s emotions. Emotions like fear, joy, hope, or anger can influence how people respond to your message. Pathos is often used at the beginning of a presentation to get attention and create a connection with the audience. You might share a personal story, show a powerful image, or use emotional language to make your audience feel something. This helps them relate to your topic on a human level. But it’s crucial to use emotions carefully and honestly. If your audience feels manipulated, they may stop trusting you.

Emotions are a powerful part of persuasive communication. Feelings influence how people react to what they hear, whether it’s fear, joy, anger, hope, or sadness. Emotional appeals can help you connect with your audience, get their attention, and make your message more memorable. People often respond emotionally before they respond logically.

However, emotional appeals should be used carefully. Your audience may feel manipulated if you rely too much on emotion or try to force an emotional reaction. This can lead to emotional resistance when people become tired of emotional messages and ignore them. Emotional appeals can wear out your audience’s ability to receive your message, especially if they feel like they are being emotionally pushed or guilted into agreement.

In addition, overusing emotional stories—especially very personal ones—can negatively affect your delivery. For example, if a story makes you feel overwhelmed or upset while speaking, it might make it harder for you to deliver your message. Even though powerful stories can be effective, persuasive presentations are not therapy sessions. If you lose control of your emotions, you may also lose credibility and the trust of your audience.

That’s why it’s important to balance emotional appeals with logic (logos) and credibility (ethos). Your goal is to move people emotionally without manipulating them and ensure that your emotional tone supports your message, not distracts from it.

Emotions are part of how we communicate, whether we realize it or not. The following five guidelines from communication expert Joseph DeVito (2003) can help you use emotions effectively and ethically in your presentations:

• Emotions Are Universal: Everyone experiences emotions. They are present in every communication situation. Recognizing this can help you understand your audience better and craft messages that connect with them.

• Use the Three T’s: Tact, Timing, and Trust. If you are upset or unsure about how your audience might react, consider whether it’s the right time to share your feelings. Being respectful, choosing the right moment, and having trust between you and your audience will help your message be received positively.

• Emotions Are Communicated Both Verbally and Nonverbally: It’s not just what you say that matters—how you say it is just as important. Your tone of voice, facial expressions, gestures, and body language send emotional messages, so be aware of your words and your delivery.

• Emotional Expression Can Be Helpful or Harmful: Expressing emotions can make your message more powerful and help build trust. However, it can also cause misunderstandings or damage relationships if done in a way that is too intense, aggressive, or blaming. Consider your audience’s point of view and stay respectful when sharing strong feelings.

• Emotions Are Contagious: Just like laughter or excitement can spread in a room, your emotional tone can influence the mood of your audience. If you show enthusiasm, your audience is likelier to feel enthusiastic too. If you seem nervous or angry, they may pick up on that as well. Choose emotions that support your message.

In summary, emotions are a natural and important part of communication. When used skillfully and respectfully, emotional appeals can make your persuasive presentations more engaging, impactful, and memorable, without overwhelming or turning off your audience.

Logos (Logic)

Logos is the appeal to logic and reason. This is where you use facts, statistics, research, examples, and expert opinions to support your points. Most people want to know why they should believe or do what you suggest. When using logos, clearly explain your reasoning and support your claims with solid evidence. This helps your audience see that your message makes sense and is based on real information, not just opinions or feelings.

Stephen Toulmin’s (1958) rhetorical strategy focuses on three main elements, shown in Table 11.5: claim, data, and warrant.

Table 11.5: Rhetorical Strategy

This three-part rhetorical strategy is helpful because it makes the claim explicit, clearly illustrating the relationship between the claim and the data, and allows the listener to follow the speaker’s reasoning. You may have a good idea or point, but your audience will be curious and want to know how you arrived at that claim or viewpoint. The warrant often addresses the inherent and unspoken question, “Why is this data so important to your topic?” and helps you illustrate relationships between information for your audience. This model can help you clearly articulate it for your audience.

Ethos (Credibility)

Ethos is the appeal to character, trust, and credibility. Before an audience listens to your ideas, they must believe that you are a trustworthy and knowledgeable speaker. You build ethos by showing that you care about your topic, have done your research, and respect your audience. You also build ethos by using credible sources, dressing professionally, using a respectful tone, and showing that you’ve considered other points of view.

Using the three appeals together creates a more complete and convincing message. If you only rely on emotion (pathos), your argument may lack evidence. If you use only logic (logos), your audience may lose interest. If you forget credibility (ethos), people may not trust what you’re saying.

Video 11.5 below explains how to use these concepts to create a persuasive presentation.

Video 11.5: Presentation Tips Using Ethos, Pathos, and Logos | Running Time: 3:59

^{Ethos Pathos Logos | Published by Communication Coach Alexander Lyon | Aug 28, 2017}

Developing a Persuasive Presentation

Your persuasive presentation should be tailored to your audience and goal. You may want to do one or more of the following:

Stimulate

When you focus on stimulation as the goal of your speech, you aim to reinforce existing beliefs, intensify them, and bring them to the forefront. You’re not asking your audience to change their mind, but to care more deeply about something they already believe. For example, you might begin with a commonly shared value or belief, such as concern for the environment, and then introduce new facts or perspectives that reinforce and elevate that concern. This is a good strategy when your audience is already on your side, but may not yet be engaged or aware of essential updates on the topic.

Convince

A persuasive speech’s goal might be to change your audience’s attitudes, beliefs, values, or judgments. People often hold personal biases or opposing viewpoints, so your job is to present logical arguments and emotional appeals that invite reconsideration. A prosecutor trying to convince a jury of a defendant’s guilt uses facts, motive, and reasoning to shift the audience’s beliefs. As a presenter, you must plan a range of evidence and examples to get people to take your perspective seriously, even if they disagree right away.

Call to Action

When your purpose is to get your audience to act, you must make your case clear and motivating. This could include encouraging people to donate blood, buy a product, recycle more often, or adopt a healthier habit. Think of a call-to-action speech as identifying a problem, offering a solution, and inspiring your audience to take that next step.

A well-known example is the “Reduce, reuse, recycle, repeat” campaign. This simple, memorable slogan is one of Canada’s most successful public persuasion efforts (Babooram & Wang, 2007).

Calls to action generally fit into one of these four goals:

• Adoption: Encourage the audience to start a new behaviour or belief.

• Discontinuance: Urge the audience to stop doing something they currently do.

• Deterrence: Persuade the audience not to start a specific behaviour in the future.

• Continuance: Reinforce a current behaviour and encourage people to keep doing it.

Depending on your audience, your speech may involve more than one of these goals. For example, if most people already agree with you, you may focus on continuance and adoption at the same time.

Increase Consideration

If your audience isn’t ready to act, your goal may be to get them to consider another point of view. This is useful when your listeners are neutral, hesitant, or hold an opposing view. You’re not demanding agreement—just asking them to consider your position.

For instance, if you compare electric and gas-powered cars, your speech might highlight long-term savings, environmental benefits, and technological features. You’re planting a seed that could later influence a decision.

Develop Tolerance of Alternate Perspectives

Sometimes, your audience may never agree with your viewpoint, but you can still help them develop tolerance and understanding. If someone values vehicle speed and power, you might introduce the concept of torque in electric cars to relate to their interests. The goal here is to find common ground and introduce alternate ideas in a respectful, relatable way.

A Five-Step Process for Persuasive Presentations

Monroe’s Motivated Sequence is a simple, effective method for organizing a persuasive presentation. It’s widely used because it combines logic and emotion. It helps guide your audience from interest to action in a smooth, structured way.

1. Get the audience’s attention
2. Identify the need or problem
3. Satisfy the need with a solution
4. Present a vision or the benefits of the solution
5. Ask them to take action

Watch Video 11.6 below to see an example of a persuasive presentation. As you watch, try to identify how the speaker uses the five steps above. Consider how they get your attention, explain the problem, and ask for action.

Video 11.6: Persuasive Presentation Example | Running Time: 9:16

^{Sample persuasive presentation | Published by Jason Costa | Oct 24, 2013}

Using the Six Principles of Persuasion

Social psychologist Robert Cialdini identified six powerful strategies for persuading people. These strategies are based on how people naturally think and behave. When used ethically, they can make your persuasive presentation much more effective.

Watch this short video for an overview.

Video 11.7: The Science of Persuasion | Running Time: 11:50 

^{Science of Persuasion | Published by influenceatwork | Nov 26, 2012}

1. Reciprocity

When someone gives us something, we often feel the need to give something back. This might mean offering helpful tips, sharing free resources, or showing kindness in presentations. When you show value first, your audience is more likely to support your ideas.

2. Scarcity

People want what they think they might lose or can’t have. If something is rare or limited, it seems more valuable. In a presentation, you might explain how a product or opportunity won’t last long or is in high demand. This encourages your audience to act quickly.

3. Authority

People trust experts. If you have strong knowledge about your topic, share it. You can also quote experts or use facts from reliable sources. This builds your credibility and helps people take you seriously.

4. Commitment and Consistency

People like to stay true to what they believe or commit to. If you help your audience agree with minor points early in your speech, they’re more likely to agree with bigger points later. Keep your message clear and consistent so people feel comfortable supporting it.

5. Consensus (Social Proof)

We often look to others when making decisions. Others are more likely to follow if many people support an idea, product, or service. Sharing testimonials, survey results, or popular trends shows that others already trust your idea.

6. Liking

We are more easily persuaded by people we like or who seem similar to us. Be friendly, respectful, and relatable. Connect with your audience by finding common ground and showing you care about their needs.

These six principles—reciprocity, scarcity, authority, commitment and consistency, consensus, and liking—are useful tools for strengthening your message. When used thoughtfully and ethically, they can help you influence your audience respectfully and effectively.

Summary

Persuasive presentations help you motivate, influence, and connect with your audience. Use logic, emotion, and credibility in a balanced way. Be honest, respectful, and purposeful. With these tools, your persuasive speeches can be powerful and ethical.

Attribution

This section contains material taken from Chapter 9.4 “Persuasive Messages” in Fundamentals of Business Communication Revised (2022) (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International), from Chapter 12.3 “Presentations that Persuade” in Communication Skills (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International), and from Chapter 12.2 “What is Persuasion” in Introduction to Professional Communication (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International).

References

References are at the end of this chapter.